Hello everyone. I've decided to start a blog, partly because it sounds amusing, and partly because I want to remind myself of everything I should be doing while writing. This blog will dispense whatever sage advice I happen to have to offer, along with the side tangents and other thoughts that come to mind while writing these things. I will have space at the end of each blog for a more condensed version of the advice, for the sake of clarity and really making sure I get all this stuff. I'm still working on making it look pretty, and I probably won't have it super fancy until sometime in January. Let's face it, I'm never going to get around to it.
How to Begin Your Story
Posted February 14th, 2016 at 10:48 AM by Bardothren
Salutations! I waited until after I saw the most recent RWBY episode to start posting this. And Ho. Ly. Psyduck. I am blown away by RWBY's storytelling. It is, hands down, the best storytelling I have ever seen out of a western cartoon. Yes, it even beats out Avatar (both series) in my estimation, and that's no easy feat. All the characters have complex, dynamic personalities, and the writers are not afraid to make them suffer. But still. Holy muk. If you haven't seen the latest episode, watch it now. And if you've never seen RWBY... WATCH IT NOW! roosterteeth.com. You'll thank me later.
As for a quick about me sort of thing, I went home this weekend, had some yummy food, but otherwise not much happened. I've been busy with schoolwork and whatnot, and I hope to have a fanfic chapter up by the end of today.
Alright, now for today's topic...
Before we begin, note that all following spoilers are RWBY spoilers. If you're not 100% caught up, do yourself a favor and don't click on them. Otherwise, I'm only spoiling the first episode.
With that out of the way, I was kicking myself after I posted Repetition for not doing this one, so I made myself do it this time. Honestly, why didn't I open with this one? And since RWBY still has my mind blown, I'll use it as an example.
RWBY opens poorly. I'll say that right now. Narration about how the world works is among the cardinal sins of starting a story. Now, granted, they make excellent callbacks to this opening scene later,
but as an intro to the story, it does a terrible job of establishing what a story needs most. I'll get to that later.
The brilliance of RWBY's introduction lies in the dust heist. It does all of the following important storytelling tricks in one swoop:
It introduces an antagonist in the form of Torchwick
It establishes Dust as an important and powerful resource in the world - more so than money
It introduces the main character, one with flaws, quirks, dreams, and absolutely badass scythe skills
It gets so many plot lines rolling all at once
And mind you, this is all within the first five minutes of the show. So, before I explain how should a story begin, let's go over how can a story begin, and the flaws/strengths of each one.
Narration
This is when a character states facts about a world or a character.
Strengths: gets world-building done in a concise and clear manner. Your reader will know what stuff does.
Weaknesses: boring as hell. Never let your reader get bored.
Dialogue
This is an interaction between two characters. This can also be narration, as is the case with RWBY.
Strengths: it establishes two personalities at once through character interaction, if done right. If done wrong, it's boring.
Weaknesses: these scenes often happen in a spaceless bubble. The image of the scene is often unclear.
Action
This is when a character's doing something.
Strengths: it establishes stakes - has the character invested in something, which will in turn have the reader invest in them. Also tends to have a better sense of scene.
Weaknesses: under certain settings, the rules of the world may be unclear. Case in point: RWBY physics
Painting a Scene
This is when a scene or character is described in vivid detail.
Strengths: clearest way to paint scenery. It can also characterize the world and the people.
Weaknesses: nothing's happening, has potential to be boring.
That's what I can think of... but that doesn't mean there aren't other ways. You're probably wondering which one I think is the best. If you've ever read anything I've written, you would know I go for the third approach more often than not, and here's why. Stakes. They are the single most important component in storytelling, be it a book, play, comic, television show, anything. There has to be a reason for your characters to care, for that is what makes readers care. Pay attention to any good story and you'll quickly realize that all of them establish a goal for the character, from Harry Potter trying to keep in the Dursleys' good graces to Bruce Wayne's dead parents. And if you want stakes, establishing conflict is the best way to go about it.
Granted, no introduction is going to be purely just one of these techniques. They usually borrow elements from each other. Having a careful balance of these (like RWBY does) allows for early narrative multitasking that is vital to draw in your audience.
How well your beginning works hinges on how quickly you can draw readers into your world and make them sympathize with your characters. There is no 'one size fits all' policy for stories, or even a particular genre, but there are general trends. Romcom and drama needs more character development while fantasy and sci-fi need more worldbuilding.
And to wrap it up, I'll try to give two quick examples about what these forms of worldbuilding look like.
vs
It's a little unfair, since I put more work into one, but it should get my point across.
And now for questions you should be asking yourself:
How am I going to draw my reader in?
Is it clear what is going on and how?
Am I being too detailed? Not detailed enough?
What are the stakes for my characters? Why do they do what they do?
Alright, till Saturday! I'm off to rewatch every episode of RWBY to see where there's crows. No, seriously.
As for a quick about me sort of thing, I went home this weekend, had some yummy food, but otherwise not much happened. I've been busy with schoolwork and whatnot, and I hope to have a fanfic chapter up by the end of today.
Alright, now for today's topic...
How to Begin Your Story
Before we begin, note that all following spoilers are RWBY spoilers. If you're not 100% caught up, do yourself a favor and don't click on them. Otherwise, I'm only spoiling the first episode.
With that out of the way, I was kicking myself after I posted Repetition for not doing this one, so I made myself do it this time. Honestly, why didn't I open with this one? And since RWBY still has my mind blown, I'll use it as an example.
RWBY opens poorly. I'll say that right now. Narration about how the world works is among the cardinal sins of starting a story. Now, granted, they make excellent callbacks to this opening scene later,
Spoiler:
but as an intro to the story, it does a terrible job of establishing what a story needs most. I'll get to that later.
The brilliance of RWBY's introduction lies in the dust heist. It does all of the following important storytelling tricks in one swoop:
It introduces an antagonist in the form of Torchwick
Spoiler:
It establishes Dust as an important and powerful resource in the world - more so than money
It introduces the main character, one with flaws, quirks, dreams, and absolutely badass scythe skills
It gets so many plot lines rolling all at once
Spoiler:
And mind you, this is all within the first five minutes of the show. So, before I explain how should a story begin, let's go over how can a story begin, and the flaws/strengths of each one.
Narration
This is when a character states facts about a world or a character.
Strengths: gets world-building done in a concise and clear manner. Your reader will know what stuff does.
Weaknesses: boring as hell. Never let your reader get bored.
Dialogue
This is an interaction between two characters. This can also be narration, as is the case with RWBY.
Strengths: it establishes two personalities at once through character interaction, if done right. If done wrong, it's boring.
Weaknesses: these scenes often happen in a spaceless bubble. The image of the scene is often unclear.
Action
This is when a character's doing something.
Strengths: it establishes stakes - has the character invested in something, which will in turn have the reader invest in them. Also tends to have a better sense of scene.
Weaknesses: under certain settings, the rules of the world may be unclear. Case in point: RWBY physics
Painting a Scene
This is when a scene or character is described in vivid detail.
Strengths: clearest way to paint scenery. It can also characterize the world and the people.
Weaknesses: nothing's happening, has potential to be boring.
That's what I can think of... but that doesn't mean there aren't other ways. You're probably wondering which one I think is the best. If you've ever read anything I've written, you would know I go for the third approach more often than not, and here's why. Stakes. They are the single most important component in storytelling, be it a book, play, comic, television show, anything. There has to be a reason for your characters to care, for that is what makes readers care. Pay attention to any good story and you'll quickly realize that all of them establish a goal for the character, from Harry Potter trying to keep in the Dursleys' good graces to Bruce Wayne's dead parents. And if you want stakes, establishing conflict is the best way to go about it.
Granted, no introduction is going to be purely just one of these techniques. They usually borrow elements from each other. Having a careful balance of these (like RWBY does) allows for early narrative multitasking that is vital to draw in your audience.
Summary
How well your beginning works hinges on how quickly you can draw readers into your world and make them sympathize with your characters. There is no 'one size fits all' policy for stories, or even a particular genre, but there are general trends. Romcom and drama needs more character development while fantasy and sci-fi need more worldbuilding.
And to wrap it up, I'll try to give two quick examples about what these forms of worldbuilding look like.
Spoiler:
vs
Spoiler:
It's a little unfair, since I put more work into one, but it should get my point across.
And now for questions you should be asking yourself:
How am I going to draw my reader in?
Is it clear what is going on and how?
Am I being too detailed? Not detailed enough?
What are the stakes for my characters? Why do they do what they do?
Alright, till Saturday! I'm off to rewatch every episode of RWBY to see where there's crows. No, seriously.
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